(23 Aug 2021) Hundreds of Afghans living in India Monday protested against the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and also demanded refugee status in India.
They rallied outside the UNHCR office in New Delhi, demanding justice and bright futures for Afghan children and women.
Most said they fled to India more than 10 years ago but were still not recognized as refugees.
They fight to live a dignified life within a complex bureaucratic process to register as refugees in India.
The system strains under a yearslong backlog as India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol Relation to the Status of Refugees.
But the demand for refugee status among the Afghan community in India has increased with Taliban taking control of country.
Many Afghans fear the Taliban will erase the gains, especially for women, achieved in the decades since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
When the militant group ran the country in the late 1990s, they imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence, forcing a sequestered life for many, particularly women and girls who were forbidden from education and most employment.
The Taliban are presenting themselves as a more moderate force, offering amnesty to those who fought them and declaring the rights of women would be honored under Islamic law.
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